Category Archives: Engagement

Employee engagement has been the topic of several posts, including our previous one; and according to recent data, is on the priority list for most organizational leaders.

But it is less common to hear people speak in specific terms about the real, often hidden, costs associated with disengagement.

In a recent blog post, Conway Management Company shared data indicating that “disengaged employees create a negative and expensive ripple effect throughout an organization, and drive-up costs in five specific ways.”

In one of last year’s posts we discussed the “engagement surprise,” which was identified as the measurable return-on-investment (R.O.I.) that many organizations were recognizing from their engagement efforts.

In other words, engagement can be a profit centerrather than a cost center.

Not only must leaders be strategic in their approach to engagement, but they must also stay-the-course with the intention of building a culture of engagement within their organizations — a culture in which people are engaged, highly-motivated, and highly-productive.

This is no small feat… but the data is clear, the R.O.I. can be significant. Typical objectives associated with this formalized approach to engagement include:

Increasing sales or revenue.

Increasing customer engagement and referrals.

Engaging channel partners to provide more commitment to products and services.

Improved recruiting and hiring.

Engaging volunteers for not-for-profits.

Engaging employees to achieve organizational goals, more consistently support the brand, work more productively, and exhibit greater loyalty.

Engaging employees to place added focus on quality, safety, and wellness.

These results and many more have been documented time-and-time again by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, which was founded in 2008. They provide members and other interested parties with a wide-range of resources and data, much of which is available at no cost.

In the article Klein references a very inspiring book which we also recommend; it is entitled “The War of Art“ by Steven Pressfield, and it shares some excellent perspective on achieving goals and unleashing our passion.

In it Pressfield quotes W.H. Murray of The Scottish Himalayan Expedition: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it. Begin it now.”

As Klein points-out, the idea is not to fall victim to procrastination. “Start today. Even if you’re not sure you’ve chosen the right path. The best way to know for sure is to begin the journey.”

Cory Treffiletti, President of California-based Catalyst S+F, seems to have had a similar perspective when he suggested adding a “fifth P” to the four basic principles of marketing, which are commonly referred to as the four “P’s” — Product, Price, Placement and Promotion.

The “fifth P,” Treffiletti suggests, is what unites a community and motivates individuals; the “fifth P” inspires desire and instills loyalty; it encourages word-of-mouth.

The “fifth P,” Treffiletti says, is passion!

While this final example may be a bit “over the top,” I’m thinking you will agree it’s hard to ignore the obvious passion exhibited by “the tambourine guy” in the video below.

The reference was made in a LinkedIn article by Dana Therrien, at SiriusDecision, who suggests, “No matter what your part is, and whatever band you play in, be exceptional, be passionate and try to have some fun. Isn’t that what we all want to do? We all want to work somewhere where we can feel free to be expressive, where things are interesting, where people are creative, and where all the players bring out the best in one another by knowing and performing their parts.”

Business leaders and managers often express their frustration when their directives, presentations, or other messages don’t seem to be heard or understood — or heeded!

Many report having to reiterate the same policies and procedures, only to have them fall on deaf ears again and again.

If this sounds familiar, there is a simple solution for today’s leaders!

As presented in a recent newsletter, storytelling has proved to be the key leadership technique for increasing understanding, buy-in, and compliance.

For example, in a recent Forbes article, author and consultant Steve Denning suggests, “Rather than merely advocating and counter-advocating propositional arguments, which lead to more arguments, leaders establish credibility and authenticity through telling their stories…

“Stories can change the way we think, act, and feel,” says the editorial team at mindtools.com.

“They can form the foundations of an entire workplace culture, and they have the power to break down barriers and turn bad situations around. Stories can capture our imaginations, illustrate our ideas, arouse our passions, and inspire us in a way that cold, hard facts often can’t.”

Research by Paul Smith, a consumer research executive, indicates the following as being among the most common reasons for the use of stories by business leaders:

Spring-boarding off of last week’s post from “Engagement World,” we might ask ourselves how (or if) we are engaging our sales team.

Regrettably, the data shows that only 25% of the workforce trusts organizational leadership! Fortunately the trust level in direct supervisors is higher.

This is critically-important for sales leaders or small business owners because buying decisions are significantly impacted by the engagement level and attitude exemplified by the sales team. In fact, the data shows that well over half of all buying decisions are driven by the emotional part of the brain!

Based on findings shared by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and the Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA), three best practices for engaging your team are:

Invest your time in one-on-one sessions with each sales team member – preferably done on a weekly basis at a consistently-scheduled time (i.e, “same time each week). The agenda for these one-on-one sessions should include an activity review, opportunity or pipeline discussion, strategy and planning session. The tone should be supportive.

Collaboration – invest your time by making joint sales calls, both in the field and via conference calls. By “working deals” with the sales team you will not only show support, but you will also learn about marketplace preferences while adding an important layer to customer and prospect relationships

Provide the team with professional development opportunities. Training and development are inextricably tied to engagement, and higher engagement levels are inextricably tied to attitude and discretionary effort.

As you may know, Engagement World is a conference and expo taking place this week in Orlando, Florida.

The event is “dedicated to highlighting the world of Enterprise Engagement in business and its many strategies and tactics.”

During a few of today’s presentations some simple yet important messages were shared and reinforced:

More of the nation’s top organizations are documenting increases in financial performance as a result of increasing employee, partner and customer engagement.

Employee engagement begins at the recruiting step – a great case study was presented by Northwell Health (61,000 employees) outlining how they revamped their recruiting and on-boarding practices. To truly engage customers the workforce must be engaged first.

What is the one thing your business or organization has that none of your competitors have?

Over the past five years we have asked a great many people in all types of organizations this simple question; and while the answers initially vary, they all ultimately agree that there is only one true and sustainable differentiator…

It isn’t a product or a unique feature of a product, or even a type of service, because these can be too easily emulated. So while a one-of-a-kind product or service might serve as a short-term differentiator, neither represents the best answer.

The simple answer is: YOU!

An organization’s one true and sustainable differentiator is the people within. Collectively the people make-up an enterprise’s personality; they represent the core values, and they represent not “what” an organization does but rather “how” it is done, which ultimately makes all the difference.

Given these realities, making enterprise engagement a cultural choice within your organization is the ideal way of achieving long-term success.

Customer engagement has become a key objective for many companies and organizations.

The primary goal, according Jon Nace of Rosetta, a global marketing agency, is to not only satisfy clients, but to also “gain a commitment from clients to interact with your brand… make a transaction and, ultimately, to choose your brand repeatedly.

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We issue approximately six electronic newsletters per year, each filled with fresh ideas and perspectives on sales, marketing and business communication, customer experience and engagement, and sales management best practices.

Current Issue: The Hard Part of Business Development

We all know that growing a business or sales territory is hard work. A good start is to create an annualized business development plan, but simply crafting the plan isn’t enough! We must commit to the proactive components of the plan — or as many people call them, the “hard part” of business development.